27 December 2012

Captured at the Imjin River, David Green. A first-hand account of the experiences of a National Service soldier who served in Korea and was captured by the Chinese during the Battle of the Imjin River. This is a compelling story, and an invaluable account of life as a National Serviceman in Korea, and as a prisoner of the Chinese. [read full review]

Women Wartime Spies, Ann Kramer. A study of mainly Allied women spies during the two World Wars (plus Mata Hari), with interesting material on the La Dame Blanche spy network that operated in Belgium during the First World War and the role of women in British Intelligence in both wars (including the famous SOE operatives and the less glamorous but just as important work back in Britain). [read full review]

21 December 2012

In Search of the Real Dad's Army, Stephen M. Cullen. A wide ranging history of the Home Guard, covering topics from the weapons it was equipped with to the competing political theories that developed around it. Also covers the less familiar Northern Irish and Isle of Man Home Guards and has some fascinating sections on the later development of the Home Guard after the real danger of invasion had passed. [read full review]

Rossano A Valley in Flames, Major Gordon Lett. A first-hand account of life with the Italian partisans during the Second World Word, written by the British commander of the International Brigade, a partisan group that operated in the Rossano valley, and that contained a mix of locals and escaped Prisoners of War and forced labourers. Also includes an account of the battalion's cooperation with an SAS mission that was dropped into the valley. [read full review]

13 December 2012

The New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War I, Wayne Stack. Looks at the recruitment, organisation, commanding officers, equipment and campaigns of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which eventually involved some 40% of the male population of military age, a most impressive level of recruitment and that served in the Pacific, at Gallipoli, in the Middle East and on the Western Front. The author packs a great deal of information into the books forty-eight pages. [read full review]

Blood & Iron: Letters from the Western Front, Hugh Montagu Butterworth, ed. Jon Cooksey. A collection of letters written in the Ypres salient between May and September 1915. Built around the letters written by Hugh Montagu Butterworth during his time on the Western Front, supported by a detailed biography of Butterworth himself, a sports mad student who emigrated to New Zealand where he worked as a teacher. A fascinating selection of letters that give a glimpse into the brutality of trench warfare. [read full review]

Knight: The Warrior and the World of Chivalry, Robert Jones. A study of the Knight, from their humble origins in the 11th century through their dominance of society and battlefield in the high Middle Ages to their decline in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Looks at their arms and armour, role on the battlefield, place in society and eventual decline. An excellent overview of a complex issue. [read full review]

6 December 2012

George Washington, Mark Lardas. One of the more successful entries in the command series, with an interesting emphasis on how Washington learnt from his early unsuccessful campaigns and on his overall strategic ideas during the War of Independence, focusing on the survival of his army rather than the defence of any particular city. [read full review]

Ask Forgiveness Not Permission, Howard Leedham. A fascinating account of a successful covert operation funded by the US State Department using Pakistani Special Forces troops and American helicopters and for a year commanded by the author, a former member of British Special Forces. Operating on a financial shoe-string while US attention was focused on Iraq, the author achieved a great deal of success during his year. [read full review]

Assault Crossing: The River Seine 1944, Ken Ford. Looks at the 43rd (Wessex) Division's crossing of the Seine at Vernon, showing how chaotic and closely run an affair it was, despite being seen as part of the 'Great Swan', the rapid Allied advance across France after the breakout from Normandy. An interesting account of a battle found between two opposing infantry divisions. [read full review]

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Steve Backer. A modelmaker's guide to the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, including a brief history of the ships, reviews of the best models and accessories, a showcase of some very impressive models, some useful plans of the two ships and an examination of the various camouflage schemes used and changes to the ship's appearances. [read full review]

12 November 2012

Iowa Class Battleships, Lester Abbey. A modeller's guide to the four ships of the Iowa class, the best American battleships and the longest serving capital ships of the modern era. Includes a history of the ships and their designs, a section of model reviews, a modellers showcase showing some very impressive models, and a section on the changing appearance of these ships over time. [read full review]

Wake Island 1941, Jim Moran. A well-illustrated look at the Japanese siege of Wake Island in 1941, which involved two amphibious assaults and repeated aerial assaults, and saw the only unsuccessful amphibious invasion of the Second World War when the first Japanese attack on the island was defeated. Well supported by some excellent maps, and with a clear, well written text. [read full review]

Walking the Somme (Second Edition), Paul Reed. Sixteen walks on the Somme battlefield, each with a discussion of the historical significance of the area, supported by a good selection of contemporary and modern photographs, useful sketch maps and contemporary trench maps. Produced twenty years after the first edition, the author's knowledge of the battlefield shines through.[read full review]

The World at War, Taylor Downing. Looks at the making of the excellent ITV documentary series the World at War, examining the environment at ITV that allowed such an ambitious series to be made, the background of the team behind the series, the historical approach and use of sources and the decisions that went into the making of each of the twenty six episodes. [read full review]

26 October 2012

An Incomparable Project, T.E. Crowdy. Four essays that expand on Incomparable, a history of the 9th Light Infantry Regiment by the same author. Looks at the earliest version of the regiment of the Seven Years War, its immediate precursor, its first combat after the Revolution and its time as the 9th demi-brigade. [read full review]

Allies at Dieppe: 4 Commando and the US Rangers, Will Fowler. A study of the 4 Commando and US Ranger attack on the gun battery at Le Mesnil, west of Dieppe, one of the few successes of the otherwise disastrous 1942 attack on Dieppe. An interesting use of the Kindle format to produce a longer text that is normal for Osprey, with extensive use of eyewitness accounts of the raid. [read full review]

Images of War: Final Days of the Reich, Ian Baxter. Contains some interesting pictures of the Germany army of 1945, with a mix of pictures of late-war military equipment and the troops themselves, many obviously posed but some that give a real feel of an army in collapse. Let down somewhat by the quality of the text, but still of interest. [read full review]

Hitler's Final Fortress: Breslau 1945, Richard Hargreaves. An account of the longest siege of any German city during 1945, the four month siege of Breslau, which ended four days after the fall of Berlin. Gives a clear picture of the desperate struggle for the city, the ghastly conditions within the besieged 'fortress' and the heavy cost suffered by the Soviet and Polish troops attacking the city. [read full review]

Wellington in the Peninsula, Jac Weller. A single volume history of the British involvement in the Peninsula War, focusing on Wellington's campaigns in Spain, but also including Sir John Moore at Corunna, the costly battle of Albuera and Wellington's campaign in France in 1814. Despite being fifty years old the book has aged well and is still a useful overview of the topic. [read full review]

26 September 2012

The Battle of Maida 1806, Fifteen Minutes of Glory, Richard Hopton. A detailed account of the first significant victory won by the British army against the troops of Napoleonic France, fought in southern Italy after the failure of the Third Coalition. An excellent account of the background to the battle, the fighting at Maida, the aftermath and its significance within the wider Napoleonic War. [read full review]

The Art of War, Sun Tzu. A beautifully presented edition of one of the classics of military thought. Printed on high quality paper (it shows), and bound using a traditional Chinese method which involves sewing the pages together using holes punched close to the inner edge. Has the Chinese text on one page with the English translation facing it. [read full review]

14 September 2012

Isandlwana, How the Zulus Humbled the British Empire, Adrian Greaves. An excellent examination of this famous battle and the campaign that led up to it, written by someone with a detailed knowledge of the battlefield and surrounding areas. Uses a wide range of contemporary sources to paint an accurate picture of this battle and the Zulu achievements and the British mistakes that led to the great Zulu victory. [read full review]

The Campaigns for Vicksburg, 1862-1863, Kevin J. Dougherty. An unusual approach to military history, this book looks at the leadership lessons that can be learnt from the successful Union attempts to capture Vicksburg, one of the key battles of the American Civil War. Organised into case studies that combine a particular element of the battle with an aspect of leadership. [read full review]

Wingate Pasha, R J M Pugh. A biography of an important figure in the British Empire, the ruler of the Sudan for twenty years. Wingate was also involved in the defeat of the Dervishes and played a major part in the success of the Arab Revolt of the First World War, and is an interesting figure. [read full review]

27 August 2012

Small Arms 1914-1945, Michael E. Haskew. A largely chronological look at the development of small arms during the two World Wars, organised into chapters based on different parts of the conflict, subdivided by nations or major battles. Makes it easier to compare the weapons in use by the different nations at any one time. [read full review]

22 August 2012

Home before the Leaves Fall, Ian Senior. Looks at the fighting in France in 1914 from the outbreak of war to the defeat of the German invasion at the battle of the Marne. Focuses mainly on the role of the German and French armies in the fighting, the two side's plans, the way in which they unfolded and unravelled after the fighting began and the reactions of Joffre and Moltke. [read full review]

Norman Naval Operations in the Mediterranean, Charles D. Stanton. Based around a narrative history of the Norman's maritime empire in the central Mediterranean, this interesting book looks at the naval operations involved in the Norman conquest of a kingdom in southern Italy and Sicily, in the maintenance of that kingdom and during increasingly grandiose campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean. [read full review]

Roman Warships, Michael Pitassi. Takes an interesting approach to the problem of reconstructing Roman warships, beginning with artistic and literary sources, moving onto a detailed plan based on the known limits of rowers and ending by constructing accurate models to see if the plan actually works in practise. The results are fascinating and his arguments very convincing. [read full review]

The Battle for Tinian, Nathan N. Prefer. A study of an opposed landing on a Pacific island where the American worked nearly perfectly, Japanese opposition ended comparatively quickly and with a lower cost than on most of the island invasions. Prefer looks at the reasons for the American success, the course of the battle and the lessons that could have been learnt from the success on Tinian. [read full review]

Who Goes Where?, Stella Rutter. A family history of the Broughton and Towler families combined with the autobiography of Stella Rutter, a member of the Supermarine drawing staff during the Second World War. Finishes with a collection of wartime memories from friends and colleagues. [read full review]

3 August 2012

The Armed Forces of the European Union 2012-2013, Charles Heyman. A pocket guide to the forces available to the 27 countries within the European Union. Very much a book of facts and figures with virtually no commentary but if you need to know man power , equipment or exactly how ships and aircraft a country has then this is the book for you. Simple command structures are included and basic lists of current deployments overseas such as in Afghanistan. Every weapon system , vehicle ship , aircraft is listed as well as numbers of personal plus defence budgets and a comparison of EU with the other major world powers such as the USA and China. A reasonable reference book full review [Read Full Review]

Images of War: Battle of Kursk 1943, Hans Seidler. A collection of photographs showing the German Army during the Battle of Kursk, the great Soviet victory of 1943 that ended the last major German offensive in the east. Focuses largely on the German weapons and vehicles that took part in the battle, with some pictures of the wider battlefield. [read full review]

Clydebank Battlecruisers, Ian Johnston. An impressive collection of photographs taken at John Brown & Sons during the construction of the battlecruisers Inflexible, Australia, Tiger, Repulse and Hood during their construction between 1906 and 1920. The pictures are very crisp and provide a fascinating view of these powerful warships under construction. [read full review]

The WAAF at War, John Frayn Turner. First-hand accounts of the achievements of the WAAFs, organised by topic and supported by a good connecting text. The range of duties carried out by WAAFs is very impressive and ranges from the famous plotting rooms of the Battle of Britain to ferry pilots and even SOE agents. [read full review]

18 July 2012

Casca 36: The Minuteman, Tony Roberts. In this entry in the series Casca is present in the first days of the American War of Independence, living close to Boston when the fighting breaks out. The action takes him to New York, both for the fighting and to rescue his latest love, and finishes at Princeton. [read full review]

Eisenhower, Steven J. Zaloga. A short biography of Eisenhower, focusing on his time as a senior Allied commander, from North Africa to D-Day and the campaign in North-West Europe, and looking at the reasons he was chosen for such high command and what made him such a successful coalition commander. [read full review]

Fogg in the Cockpit, Richard and Janet Fogg. The wartime diary of Howard Fogg, later a famous railroad artist, but then a US fighter pilot based in Britain and engaged in the long range escort of American bombers. Fogg's diary is supported by the monthly reports of the official Group Historian, so events are seen from two points of view. [read full review]

Mosquito Menacing the Reich, Martin W. Bowman. First-hand accounts from the crews of Mosquitoes, covering a wide range of topics, from high level photo reconnaissance to precision bombing, night intruders and the American use of the aircraft, connected by some useful supporting information. [read full review]

4 July 2012

Child of Loki, Richard Denning. Second in a series of historical novels set in the dark ages, following the early days of the kingdom of Northumbria, this time centred around the battle of Degsastan, a period in while Angles, Britons, Scots and Picts struggled for control of northern England and southern Scotland. [read full review]

The Wars of the Maccabees, John D. Grainger. A military history of the hundred years of warfare between the revolt of the Maccabees in 167BC and the Roman conquest of the Hasmonean kingdom and their capture of Jerusalem in 63BC. The author does an excellent job of comparing the Jewish and other sources to produce a more realistic assessment of the conquests and achievements of the Hasmonean kings. [read full review]

Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, Bill Cheall. The Memoirs of a Green Howard who was called up in 1939, moved to France just before the German invasion, was evacuated from Dunkirk, fought in the desert and Sicily, took part in the D-Day landings before being wounded on D+30. A down-to-earth account of momentous events and an interesting view of the development of the British army. [read full review]

The Teutonic Knights - A Military History, William Urban. Traces the Teutonic Knights from their origins in the Holy Land, through a brief period in Transylvanian and on to the area they are most famously associated with, Prussia and Livonia, where they fought against Pagans, Orthodox Russians, Tatars and eventually Catholic Poles and Lithuanians. [read full review]

16 May 2012

Tracing Your East End Ancestors, Jane Cox. A geographically focused guide to family history that greatly benefits from its fixed focus, allowing the author to guide the reader very precisely to specific archives. Also includes a brief history of the East End, tracing its development from a rural area east of London into one a major urban community in its own right. [read full review]

Culloden, 1746 (2nd Edition), Stuart Reid. A splendid account of the battle of Culloden and the campaigns before and after the battle. Also includes a good survey of the modern battlefield, taking into account recent improvements made by the National Trust for Scotland. Very readable, with a lightness of touch that is unusual on this still controversial topic. [read full review]

9 May 2012

Naval Weapons of World War One, Norman Friedman. A very high quality reference work looking at all of the naval weapons in use during the First World War and a number of weapons that appeared just after the end of the conflict. Also covers the tactics used by different navies and the crucial technology of gun control. [read full review]

Target London: Bombing the Capital 1915-2005, Peter Reese. Falls into three very different sections, examining the small scale bombing of the First World War, the massive bombing campaign of the Blitz and the V weapons of the Second World War, and the terrorist attacks of recent years. Does an excellent job of examining both sides of each campaign, including a look at the aims of each wave of attacker. [read full review]

Chindit Affair: A Memoir of the War in Burma, Frank Baines. A first-hand account of Operation Thursday, the second and largest of the main Chindit operations, written by a British officer who commanded the Gurkha troops protecting the brigade HQ. An unusual highly literate and very readable account of this operation, written by someone who wasn't afraid to describe how desperate the Chindit position was by the time they were withdrawn. A splendid account of this fascinating campaign. [read full review]

23 April 2012

Battleground Verdun: Fort Vaux, Christina Holstein. A detailed account of the siege of Fort Vaux, a short but important part of the wider Battle of Verdun, combined with a history of the fort and four self-guided tours of Fort Vaux and the surrounding area. A splendid account of a claustrophobic battle fought in horrendous conditions. [read full review]

The Pacific War Uncensored, Harold Guard with John Tring. The memoirs of a British war correspondent who covered the disastrous campaigns in Malaya, Singapore and Java, before escaping to Australia from where he reported on the Allied fight-back on New Guinea. An invaluable first-hand account of the British and Allied defeats in south-east Asia from someone who was caught up in them. [read full review]

16 April 2012

French Foreign Legionnaire, 1890-1914, Martin Windrow. A study of the French Foreign Legionnaire in the quarter of a century before the outbreak of the First World War, a period that saw them fight in North Africa and Vietnam. Looks at the recruitment, training, daily life and combat experience of one of the most famous and most notorious of military units. [read full review]

Images of War: Leningrad, Hero City, Nik Cornish. A pictorial history of the long siege of Leningrad, illustrated with a well-chosen and well balanced mix of pictures from both sides of the line. Supported by a brief account of the siege that follows both side's activities and plans and how events elsewhere on the front affected the situation around Leningrad. [read full review]

Roman Conquests: Gaul, Michael M. Sage. Briefly covers the conquest of the Gaul's of northern Italy and the province in southern France, but most of the book focuses on Caesar's conquest of Gaul, as famously documented by Caesar himself. Other sources are used when possible, so this is more than just a reworking of the Gallic Wars, and is a useful entry in this series. [read full review]

S.A.S. in Tuscany, 1943-1945, Brian Lett. A study of three S.A.S. operations behind enemy lines in Tuscany between the period of the Italian armistice in 1943 and the end of the war in 1945. The first ended in tragedy, the second was a great success, the third achieved comparatively little, so the author is able to compare and contrast three very different missions that took place in the same small area of Italy. [read full review]